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Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire ( or ; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right. It includes St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots, and Ramsey. History The area corresponding to modern Huntingdonshire was first delimited in Saxon times, and the modern boundaries have remained largely unchanged since the 10th century. Status In 1889, under the Local Government Act 1888 Huntingdonshire became an administrative county, with the new County Council taking over administrative functions from the Quarter Sessions. The area in the north of the county forming part of the municipal borough of Peterborough became instead part of the Soke of Peterborough administrative county, in Northamptonshire. In 1965, under a recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England, it was merged with the Soke of Peterborough to form Huntingdon and Peterborough - the Lieutenancy county was also merged. Also at this time St Neots expanded westward over the river into Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon in Bedfordshire. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Huntingdon and Peterborough merged with Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely to form the new non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire. A Huntingdon district was created based closely on the former administrative county borders, with the exclusion of the Old Fletton urban district became part of the Peterborough district, as did that part of Norman Cross Rural District in Peterborough New Town. The district was renamed Huntingdonshire on 1 October 1984, by resolution of the district council.Name change. The Times. 27 April 1984 Original historical documents relating to Huntingdonshire are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office in Huntingdon. Revival of county 1831 Census cited in Vision of Britain - Ancient county data |AreaFirstYear= 1831 |AreaLast= |AreaLastYear= 1961 |DensityFirst= 0.24/acre |DensityFirstYear= 1911 |DensityLast= 0.34/acre |DensityLastYear= 1961 |Arms= Arms of Huntingdonshire County Council |Civic= |Map= Ancient and 1889 extent of Huntingdonshire |DivisionsMap= }} The Local Government Commission considered in the 1990s the case for making a Huntingdonshire unitary authority as part of a general structural review of English local government, that led to unitary authorities in two other English counties that had been wiped from the map: Rutland and Herefordshire. The Draft Recommendations envisaged three possible scenarios for structural change in Cambridgeshire: the preferred option and the third option had a unitary Huntingdonshire, whilst the second option would have seen Huntingdonshire combine with Peterborough and Fenland to form a "Peterborough and Huntingdonshire" unitary authority. The Final Recommendations of the Commission for Cambridgeshire recommended no change in the status quo in Cambridgeshire.Local Government Commission for England. Final Recommendations for the Future Local Government of Cambridgeshire. October 1994. The districts of Peterborough and Huntingdonshire were referred back to the commission for a reconsideration in 1995. The commission recommended the creation of a Peterborough unitary authority, but proposed that Huntingdonshire remain part of the shire county of Cambridgeshire, noting that "there was no exceptional county allegiance to Huntingdonshire, as had been perceived in Rutland and Herefordshire".Local Government Commission for England. Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of: Basildon & Thurrock, Blackburn & Blackpool, Broxtowe, Gedling & Rushcliffe, Dartford & Gravesham, Gillingham & Rochester Upon Medway, Exeter, Gloucester, Halton & Warrington, Huntingdonshire & Peterborough, Northampton, Norwich, Spelthorne and the Wrekin. December 1995. David McKie writing in the Guardian noted that "Writers-in demanded an independent Huntingdon; but MORI's more broadly-based poll showed that most Huntingdonians - that is, most of John Major's electors - were content to stay part of Cambridgeshire."Commentary:Hatred of Harlow and bad thoughts about Basildon : David McKie - 31 October 1994. The Guardian After the failure of Huntingdonshire to become a unitary authority, a Huntingdonshire Society was set up to promote awareness of Huntingdonshire as a historic county, and to campaign for its reinstatement as an administrative and ceremonial entity. In 2002 it established an annual "Huntingdonshire Day" on 25 April, the birthday of Oliver Cromwell.And you're from where? The Times. 20 April 2002.Cromwell's own county. The Daily Telegraph. 19 June 2004. Sports Huntingdonshire is the birthplace of bandy, now an IOC accepted sport.http://www.internationalbandy.com/viewNavMenu.do?menuID=4 internationalbrandy.com According to documents from 1813, Bury Fen Bandy Club was undefeated for 100 years. A member of the club, Charles Tebbutt, wrote down the 1st official rules in 1882 and helped spread the popularity of the sport to many countries.http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2006/02/15/bandy_sport_feature.shtml bbc.co.uk Huntingdonshire County Cricket Club is considered one of the 20 Minor counties of English and Welsh cricket, even though it has never played within the Minor Counties Championship it has its own individual Cricket Board and played in the English domestic one-day competition, between the years 1999 and 2003. Towns and villages Major towns * Huntingdon * Ramsey * St Ives * St Neots Smaller towns and villages * Abbots Ripton, Abbotsley, Alconbury, Alconbury Weston, Alwalton * Barham, Bury, Bluntisham, Brampton, Brington, Broughton, Buckden, Buckworth, Bythorn * Catworth, Chesterton, Colne, Connington, Coppingford, Covington * Denton & Caldecote, Diddington * Earith, Easton, Eaton Ford, Eaton Socon, Ellington, Elton, Eynesbury * Farcet, Fenstanton, Folksworth & Washingley * Glatton, Godmanchester, Grafham, Great Gransden, Great, Little and Steeple Gidding, Great Paxton, Great Staughton * Haddon, Hail Weston, Hamerton, Hartford, Hemingford Abbots, Hemingford Grey Hilton, Holme, Holywell, Houghton * Keyston, Kimbolton, Kings Ripton * Leighton Bromswold, Little Paxton * Molesworth, Morborne * Needingworth * Oldhurst, Old Weston * Perry, Pidley * Ramsey St Mary's * Sawtry, Spaldwick, Somersham, Southhoe & Midloe, Stibbington, Stilton, Stow Longa * Tetworth, Tilbrook, Toseland, The Offords, The Raveleys, The Stukeleys * Upton, Upwood * Wansford, Warboys, Waresley, Water Newton, Winwick, Wistow, Woodhurst, Woodwalton, Wooley, Wyton * Yaxley, Yelling Famous people associated with Huntingdonshire * Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland 1653-58 * John Major (1943- ), politician and former Prime Minister (1990–97) * Samuel Pepys (1633–1703), seventeenth-century MP and diarist * Henry Royce (1863–1933), pioneering car manufacturer and founder of Rolls-Royce * Peter Foxhall (1941- ), Australian clergyman, evangelist and author, was born in St Neots See also *Flag of Huntingdonshire * List of Lord Lieutenants of Huntingdonshire * List of High Sheriffs of Huntingdonshire Notes External links *Huntingdonshire District Council - local government information *Huntingdonshire - general informative *The Huntingdonshire Society - dedicated to the traditional county and campaigning for its reinstatement as an administrative entity *The Huntingdonshire Flag *The Lost Pubs Project: Lost and closed pubs of Huntingdonshire. Category:History of Cambridgeshire Category:Local government in Cambridgeshire Category:Huntingdonshire Category:Disestablished in 1965 Category:Counties of England established in antiquity Category:Non-metropolitan districts of Cambridgeshire Category:Local government districts of the East of England